New Delhi: In a latest report which could further strain the ties between the two neighbouring countries, India and China, the latter's official news agency, Xinhua, has described the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as ‘Pakistan'.
On Tuesday, the Chinese authorities announced the closure of Khunjerab Pass for the winter season, a high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains on the northern border of Gilgit–Baltistan and the southwest border of the Xinjiang region of China.
The announcement described the pass as ‘a strategic point on the Karakoram highway which links China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region'.
At present, India considers the disputed region as its integral party which is illegally occupied by the Pakistani side.
In past, the China had said that it would not take sides as far as the dispute between India and Pakistan is concerned regarding the two nation's stand on boundary.
This is not the first time that China has described Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Pakistan. In 2010, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement denying the presence of its troops in PoK described the Gilgit Baltistan region as part of Pakistan.
